Why Did It Have To Be Robots?
by Hypnotoad76
Summary: Annie thinks she's going crazy again, until Jeff is the one who saves her. Inspired by Paradigms of Human Memory


_**This was inspired by the scene with the robot attacking the school and Jeff saving Annie from it in Paradigms of Human Memory. Takes place sometime after Celebrity Pharmacology but before Paradigms of Human Memory.**_

_**I own Community in no way shape or form**_

Jeff ignored the screams coming from the hallway as he pulled Annie into an empty classroom and steered her into a chair. She was whiter than a corpse and wasn't responding to anything. Jeff knelt in front of Annie and gently shook her shoulders. "Annie, are you all right? Annie answer me." When she didn't respond he shook her more forcefully. He would rather have her hysterically sobbing right now. This almost catatonic state she was in was terrifying him. "Annie snap out of it! Annie! ANNIE!"

She blinked and took a deep breath, looking into his eyes. "Jeff." She said in a small voice.

"Annie, it's ok. It was just Starburns in a costume."

They looked at each other before she wrapped her arms around Jeff, almost crushing him with her arms. "I felt so lost. I, I thought it was happening again. That I was losing my mind."

He didn't say a word. He just held Annie's trembling form as the screaming continued outside.

**One Hour Earlier (Jeff's perspective)**

"Jeff, it won't be that bad."

"That's what you said about going to that feline aids awareness event, and the only person who didn't completely hate it was Britta."

Jeff continued playing bejeweled on his phone, trying to ignore Annie's eyes hopefully staring back at him. He knew if he looked at her Disney face it would be harder to resist her, so he kept his eyes firmly down at his phone screen.

"You really think camping with the Dean is something any of us would want to do?"

"I'd rather the Dean wasn't there. But it would be something nice for all of us to do together. And besides, you heard what he said. If we go he'll count the weekend as a science excursion and will give us all credit. When have you ever turned down a free academic credit?"

"When it involves spending a weekend with a man who will try to do things with me in a sleeping bag that would make porn stars cringe. "

"Ew, Jeff, gross. " Annie shuttered as she got up from the table and slung her backpack over her shoulders. "Just think about it, please." She said as she walked out of the room.

Jeff glanced up just as she left the room. He knew she wasn't going to give up on this. The seven of them camping for a weekend combined with school credit was too good a prize for her to pass up. He had to admit, if that was just the case he'd jump right on board. But the dean had been very insistent; for actual credit he would have to be there (for "educational purposes") and all seven of them would have to go.

"Jeffery!" Jeff sighed as Dean Pelton walked into the study room in a pink ballerina costume, complete with tutu and a silver wand. "So nice to see you by your lonesome. Where's the rest of your group by the way?"

"If you think that costume is going to get me to reconsider camping with you you couldn't be more wrong."

"Oh, this little thing." The Dean smiled as he waved his arms dramatically. "No, no, this is part of a drug awareness play I'm putting on. Since the one you put on for the middle school went so well I figured one for our campus was in due order. But I'm in a bit of a pickle and came to see if you wanted to help your school out with a worthy cause. Seems the acting troop that was going to perform decided to bail on me at the last minute. As you can see here I had to step in to one of the roles. Pierce agreed to play the role of the hot dog so that's out. But I have a very important role I think you would be perfect for."

"Not for all the liquor in an Irishman's cabinet."

The Dean smiled at Jeff in a rather unnerving way. "You know Jeffrey. That parking space of yours is a very nice gift Greendale has given you. But it can just as easily be taken away."

Jeff tensed up as the words sank in. "You wouldn't? I earned that space."

"Yes you did, last year. But it doesn't seem fair for you to continue having it if you don't help out your school at least once every academic year." The Dean held up his hands as Jeff glared evilly at him. "I promise if you do this your space will safely be yours for at least another year. What do you say?"

Groaning in frustration Jeff got up and loudly pushed his chair back. "Fine, what exactly do I have to do?

XXXXXX

"So after you eat our crushed sugar stand in for drugs Starburns and Garret will come out and say 'Be yourself and stay off drugs. Otherwise you are just another robot like us. A unfeeling robot.' Then you thrash around the stage and pretend to have a panic attack. And if you feel the need to take your shirt off or any other pieces of clothing just go with it."

Jeff bit his tongue for what felt like the twentieth time as he listened to The Dean explain this inane play. It didn't make sense at all. The dean was supposed to dance around stage while Jeff's character went from a baseball star (in the script his character was a basketball star but The Dean didn't think that would work because Jeff 'wasn't the right color') to a hopeless addict. Starburns and Garret were playing robots that were supposed to represent lose of self. And he still didn't understand how Pierce as a giant hot dog fit into all this.

"So then you scream how it's all too much and you never should have tried drugs. Then I come over and-Starburns, Garret, stop eating the sugar. It's for the play."

"Yea, don't eat that stuff. That's for Jeff." Pierce said as he dragged the two of them away from the table. Garret yelled out that he was hungry as he put the head of his robot costume back on.

"So anyway Jeffrey. I'll then come over and say I can make you whole again. But only through hard work and determination. That's when you-"

The Dean and Jeff quickly ducked down as a frying pan flew at their heads. Jeff looked over and saw Starburns thrashing around and moaning like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Garret was running in tight circles and making chipmunk sounds.

"What in the Sam hill is going on with you two? This is not proper robot behavior." The Dean stamped his foot and marched over to Starburns. As he approached him Starburns bellowed like a gorilla and swung his arm in the Dean's face, knocking him out cold. Starburns lumbered out of the cafeteria and howled in the hallway. A minute later Garret ran after him, loudly speaking in tongues.

Jeff looked over at Pierce, seeing him look exactly like a kid who had done something wrong. Guessing he had something to do with this Jeff went over to him. "Pierce, what is going on?"

"This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. They weren't the ones who were-."

Jeff grabbed Pierce's costume threateningly. This was not the time for subtlety. "What did you do?"

"I added a bit of PCP to the sugar. It was suppose to be for you, so it would look real when we did the play. I didn't think they would get hungry and start eating it."

Before Jeff could respond the entire hallway filled with screams. He ran out of the cafeteria and was greeted by total chaos. Students and faculty ran in every direction as Starburns thrashed around wildly. Screams in the distance indicated that Garret was off doing damage elseware.

As he made his way through the crowd he saw Annie in the middle of the hallway. "Annie, run!" But she just stood there, unable to move. He fought his way over and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the carnage. As he looked at her he saw that she wasn't responding at all. Seeing a empty classroom he made his way towards it, never letting go of her hand.

**One Hour Earlier (Annie's perspective)**

"Jeff, it won't be that bad."

"That's what you said about going to that feline aids awareness event, and the only person who didn't completely hate it was Britta."

Annie looked at Jeff hopefully as he continued playing bejeweled on his phone. She really wanted to go camping with the group and she knew Jeff was the one who would ensure that they all go. As she kept looking at him she saw Jeff groan in frustration.

"You really think camping with the Dean is something any of us would want to do?"

"I'd rather the Dean wasn't there. But it would be something nice for all of us to do together. And besides, you heard what he said. If we go he'll count the weekend as a science excursion and will give us all credit. When have you ever turned down a free academic credit?"

"When it involves spending a weekend with a man who will try to do things with me in a sleeping bag that would make porn stars cringe. "

"Ew, Jeff, gross. " She shuttered as she got up from the table and delicately placed her backpack over her shoulders. "Just think about it." She said as she walked out of the room.

As Annie walked she hoped she could convince everyone to go on the trip. When she was a kid she used to go camping every summer with her parents. To this day she couldn't smell a roasting marshmallow without being brought back to those idealistic childhood days. Then her parents divorced and since her dad had been the one who liked to camp her mom refused to take her anymore. She missed those days. Smelling pine trees first thing in the morning and canoeing down the river meant family to her. And she knew it would mean a lot if she could show her Greendale family how much fun it could be.

She walked into the library and found a quiet place to study. Hopefully if she gave Jeff a little space he would come around and get everyone else to go. As she looked through her notes she felt her eyelids grow sleepy. Putting her head down she figured she could just rest them for a few minutes.

XXXXXX

She was suddenly jolted from her sleep as she heard loud screaming from outside. Leaving her stuff she raced out into the hallway. "Run, everyone run." A girl screamed as people raced down the hallway. Annie looked in the direction everyone was running from and gasped at the sight in front of her.

She couldn't move. While a part of her screamed at her to run she was petrified with fear. It was happening again. For the second time in her life she was seeing robots. Terrible robots attacking everyone. The robot in front of her leaned back, revealing Starburns head for a moment before its robotic head slid back into place. He's a robot, she thought. He was once a man and now he's a robot.

No, this isn't real she thought. This isn't happening. You're not seeing this. You're not crazy. Your fine. Your fine. It will go away. But as she stood there it didn't go away. The robot that was once Starburns was still there. And as she stared at him she remembered the last time she saw people turn into robots. She had been helpless, unable to stop it. She screamed and cried but no one helped her. No one cared that she was afraid and in danger. She was alone and no one would help her. They all thought she was crazy. Maybe she was. Maybe it never left her and it was all coming back out now. Maybe it wasn't the pills that made her crazy, but something sick and wrong inside of her.

She was barely aware of someone grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the chaos. She was seeing the world through a dark tunnel and everything was dull and muffled. Somehow though she could hear someone calling out her name, repeatedly saying "Annie". She felt herself slowly blink and suddenly the world came back into focus. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into Jeff's face, seeing him more worried than she ever thought possible. "Jeff", she said in a small voice.

"Annie, it's ok. It was just Starburns in a costume."

While screams continued to flood the hallway tremendous relief washed over her. He had saved her. Jeff, who still tried to pretend he was too cool to care, found her and saved her. She leaned forward and hugged him as tightly as she could. "I felt so lost. I, I thought it was happening again. That I was losing my mind."

Though her body trembled from the memory she felt safe and protected in Jeff's arms. Although the sounds of yelling and crashing furniture echoed outside it couldn't touch her anymore. Annie knew that as long as she had Jeff she would always be protected. She would never be lost again.


End file.
